Contents

Summary

There is no denying that Sting’s WWE debut — recipient of the “This is Awesome!” Moment of the Year Slammy Award — was, indeed, awesome. Less so, at least for Dolph Ziggler, was his Raw-opening drop to Seth Rollins thanks to a late-game interference that stopped The Showoff’s hot streak cold. Granted, it’s easy to say that Ziggler, who had Rollins on his heels after backdropping him off the top turnbuckle, could have and would have sewn the contest up.

But J&J Security, lurking at ringside, had other plans for the former Intercontinental Champion, shoving him face-first off the top and straight into a Curb Stomp and gift-wrapping the “W” for Mr. Money in the Bank. The victorious Rollins then rubbed salt in the WWE Universe's wound by scaring off Slammy host Seth Green and “accepting” Sting's award on the former WCW Champion's behalf.

The Slammy Award–winning return of the late Ultimate Warrior (presented by a returning John Laurinaitis) was the payoff to years of patience on the part of the WWE Universe. That said, the wait will continue for Gold & Stardust, whose promise to bring darkness upon The New Day hit a Kofi Kingston-shaped roadblock on Raw. As the war of words escalates between Gold & Stardust and the newly formed troika of smart, athletic friends, Kofi put the power of positivity to the test and toppled the sinister Stardust in the process.

The win was a bit of a come-from-behind affair. Stardust had The Dreadlocked Dynamo in the palm of his gloved hands but took a bit too long to preen, and the former Intercontinental Champion responded accordingly. Kingston turned on the jets and stunned Stardust with a Boom Drop, a pair of running knees to the sternum, and finally, a sky-high crossbody that pinned the bizarre brother to the mat.

It’s been seven months since Natalya fell to Charlotte in an instant-classic battle for the NXT Women’s Championship. That’s six months of stewing, six months of preparation and six months of waiting for another crack at NXT’s resident queen bee, and what do you know? Natalya finally got hers when the two Divas reprised their battle on Raw in advance of NXT Takeover: R Evolution this Thursday on WWE Network.

The two didn’t get to dig quite as deep as they did in their initial confrontation, though they certainly didn’t waste any time in picking up where they left off. Charlotte threw chops left and right and Natalya responded with her Hart-style submission holds. It came down to a split-second reversal of Charlotte’s Figure-Four Leglock — itself a reversal of Natalya’s Sharpshooter — that gave The Queen of Harts her victory.

How’s this for a pair of OMG moments? First, there’s Brock Lesnar conquering The Streak, crowned as the most shocking moment of 2014 in the night’s third Slammy Award presentation. And then, there’s Dean Ambrose, last seen wheeled out of SmackDown on a stretcher, returning to Raw with tables, ladders and chairs in hand in the middle of Bray Wyatt’s latest pontification. While Wyatt waged war with his words, however, Ambrose did his best to administer the same fate to The Eater of Worlds as gave to his rocking chair, blasting Wyatt with two steel chairs to the face and promising further punishment at WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs … and Stairs.

The Divas division stepped up its game in a big way in 2014, so it’s only fitting that the woman to claim Diva of the Year was the woman who started it all: AJ Lee. The former Divas Champion not only gave due respect to the Divas of the future — Sasha Banks, Bayley and Charlotte down in NXT — but before that happens, she promised to reclaim her title from Nikki Bella and continue her reign as “Queen.”

Everyone knows that when brothers fight, there isn’t much room for rules and regulations. So it went when Erick Rowan and Luke Harper, once united in brotherhood under Bray Wyatt’s wing, faced off in an official, one-on-one match for the first time.

In fact, while Rowan technically walked away with the win, it wasn’t much more than a technicality that gave it to him. A comeback by the sheep-faced giant against the Intercontinental Champion fell short when Harper opted to slam a ladder into Rowan’s head, bringing the bout to a disqualification halt. Not to worry, though: The certified genius got his payback, clocking Harper with a forearm to the jaw and slamming the steel steps into his former Family member’s face.

Damien Mizdow – the “LOL” Moment of the Year Slammy recipient, at least until The Miz hijacked his acceptance speech – had the WWE Universe rolling in the aisles. But what Jack Swagger did to Rusev had The Super Athlete writhing in agony after the U.S. Champion and Lana took to the ring with another round of insults for the U.S. of A. Enter Swagger, with payback on his mind for Zeb and with a U.S. Title opportunity just six days away. Touting the American idiom of "What goes around, comes around," The Real American stormed the ring and brought the power of the stars and bars down on Rusev’s head, repaying the Russian's attack on Colter by wrenching his foot into the Patriot Lock and refusing to release it until an army of referees intervened to free him.

If nothing else, Damien Mizdow’s commitment to the craft is beyond reproach. The freshly anointed Slammy Award winner took his stunt-double duties to another level in Raw’s Six-Man Tag Team Match, flying all over the ring in perfect sync with his mentor and fellow WWE Tag Team Champion. When The Miz took a suplex, Mizdow took a suplex. When Miz took a tumble over the ropes, Mizdow followed suit. And when Miz lost, Mizdow lost as well.

Granted, it wasn’t as though the Mizzes — teamed with Kane — exactly fell to a trio of scrubs. Their opponents, Ryback & The Usos, thwarted the three scoundrels at every turn, culminating with Jey Uso going over the top rope to topple Kane and Ryback Shell Shocking Miz into a fine, Hollywood paste.

She’s the Diva of the Year for 2014, and AJ Lee has already staked her claim on a killer 2015 after a decisive victory over Summer Rae just moments after she won her Slammy. Perhaps it was Summer’s disrespect of AJ’s win that drove the former Divas Champion into second gear, but whatever the cause, AJ managed to reverse a strong opening salvo from Summer into the Black Widow in a matter of seconds.

While AJ looked to build upon her Slammy win, Dolph Ziggler’s own building is just beginning. Accepting the Match of the Year award on behalf of Team Cena vs. Team Authority, The Showoff thanked the WWE Universe for carrying him back up the mountain, and he dedicated the award to them.

Indeed, Chris Jericho has been no stranger to the extreme throughout his entire career. The former Undisputed WWE Champion won the Extreme Moment of the Year Slammy Award for his crossbody off a steel cage to Bray Wyatt – presented by Rob Van Dam, no less. But the Lionheart’s thunder was stolen, once again, by Fandango, who took the opportunity to one-up Y2J once again a la WrestleMania 29 by shimmying away with his Slammy.

Well, well, well. When The Big Dog comes back to the yard, he’ll have a new accolade to bring around with him: Roman Reigns is your 2014 Superstar of the Year. Defeating the likes of John Cena, Bray Wyatt, Daniel Bryan, Brock Lesnar and his former Shield-mates Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins, the former WWE Tag Team Champion made his Raw return to accept the Slammy and had a few choice words for Cena, Lesnar, Triple H, Mr. McMahon and whomever else is looking for someone to “step up.” Quite simply, Reigns is headed to the top of the ladder to knock off whoever’s waiting for him.

One’s headed for tables, the other’s headed for stairs, and in the main event of Raw, John Cena and Big Show met in a battle of titanic proportions. What was shaping up to be an upset for Cena — he’d stunned Show with a sleeper hold and escaped a chokeslam to set up the Attitude Adjustment — turned into an all-out brawl, as Seth Rollins interfered, followed swiftly by Dolph Ziggler, Big Show, Erick Rowan, Ryback, Luke Harper and Kane. When the dust cleared, Rollins had the last word with yet another Triple Powerbomb to the Cenation leader, this time through the announce table. All it takes is one more on Sunday and Cena’s time as No. 1 contender is up.